HN removes posts they deem off-topic, including most political posts. They let things that are going to be discussed regardless slide usually, so right after they happened the first Snowden releases, Aaron Swartz's suicide and Donglegate got a pass, but for the most part anything political is going to get removed. That the politics of technology and the techie community is not deemed on-topic on Hacker News, but the business of technology is, makes me more uncomfortable using the word "hacker" than outsiders thinking all hackers were criminals ever did, but I don't think they're inconsistent about it.
Sure. "Off topic." In the top ten right now are articles about the Trans-Pacific Partnership and how to smuggle $1000 into North Korea. For the people wondering who removes posts about how ugly the actual tech industry can be for women, I believe it is the flagging mechanism.
It would get in the way of all Shit You've Read a Dozen Times Already [2001], Show HN: Our New Startup That Connects You To Poor People Who Will Iron Your Underwear For You Just Like Mommy Used To, and Implementation Of A Completely Trivial Thing In This Week's Sexy Language posts.